Interesting to hear you mention Regenokine treatments. I was investigating that subject the other day when I saw they were sending 3 more players for the treatments. I had the same thought you did, but it is their own blood. There is nothing foreign being added. It's a slippery slope and I think this should be banned but it is seen as a healing procedure like putting someone in a hyperbaric chamber. Should those be outlawed also? Tough issue.
We'll see how this works out for the Hawks. We get to see Mr. Richardson Week 1.
Originally Posted by: uffda udfa
I dont see anything wrong with a Hypo-chamber and I dont think its a good comparison, it doesnt inject anything foreign into the body or enhance performance.
And restructuring the blood and re-injecting it is not "their own blood" because what they're injecting was not and cannot be produced by the body. It don't matter where it initially came from it is a substance 100% foreign to the body.
I think a better comparison is PRP [platelet rich plasma], which is legal. There you take out blood, alter it leaving behind platelets and re-injecting the manipulated blood.
But, Blood doping, which re-injects a person's blood after stuff other than red blood cells are removed, is banned. The extra red blood cells enhance performance.
Extra platelets don't enhance performance, they promote the BODY's HEALING, so they've decided its legal.
Regenokine doesnt promote healing; it masks the injury, it artificially masks pain by reducing inflammation, it allows a player to play on a more severely injured knee than he'd otherwise be able. Just like pain killers! It works like smelling salt to snap a guy out of a concussion so he can get right back out there. This will unequivocally lead to more injury and more long term damage done to the body.
This procedure also can last 2-4 years! No one knows what the long term effects of PRP is either; but after a week or so the extra platelets would have died and the blood coursing thru a players vessels is 100% normal and natural. Doing the Regenokine procedure a person's blood does not return to normal for years. Does this lead to more heart disease, will it cause clots to form faster or clots to break off easier overtime? No one knows.
This is putting a foreign body into the body for the sole purpose of enhancing performance, just like blood doping.
Another key factor in deciding what should be banned is whether all teams/players have equal access to it. If a treatment is otherwise okay but only the 3 or 4 richest franchises could afford it, it must be banned. Likewise, if a substance is unsafe in possibility or reality, it is only available to those willing to sacrifice their future health for a payday today; so it is not available to all and must be banned.
Oh and the full effects of Richardson wont be felt for a number of years, they lost a 2nd and a 6 or 7th rounder. If Seattle gets to SB, then the loss of future assets was probably worth it. Do ya think Richardson can make that much fo a difference? I don't!